On 7 December 2017, Vice-Director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research Professor Mikhail Grigorievich Itkis turns 75.

Mikhail Grigorievich is a world famous physicist and science organizer. Since 1967, after graduation from MSU, he worked in the AS Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Republic of Kazakhstan, where in 1974 he defended his PhD and in 1985 – Doctor of Sciences works. Dissertation’s topics were connected with developed by Academician G.N.Flerov fields of heavy-ion physics. In 1992, as a follow-up of this work M.G.Itkis was invited by Yu.Ts.Oganessian (FLNR Director at that time) to work in the Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions of JINR. In 1993, the Scientific Council elected M.G.Itkis as Deputy Director of FLNR. In 1997, Mikhail Itkis became Director of this laboratory. Since 2006, M.G.Itkis has been Vice Director of JINR.

Professor M.G.Itkis is an acknowledged physicist-experimentalist. His research interests are connected with fundamental research of nuclear fission. He carried out research devoted to probability of fission of pre-actinide nuclei. It gave an opportunity to consider nuclear shape in the region of extremely large deformations, shell structure and nucleon pairing effects influence on the thermodynamical characteristics of heated nucleus, dependence of the constant of pair nucleon interaction inside the nucleus with its deformation, etc.

Outstanding results were achieved by M.G.Itkis while investigating mass and energy characteristics of fission fragments induced by light charged particles and heavy ions. These experiments led to the discovery of new effects and regularities: asymmetric nuclear fission in the lead mass region and multi modality of low-energy fission fragment mass and energy distributions from lead to berkelium, correlation of the width of fission fragment mass distribution with the shape of the fissioning nucleus at saddle point. Acquired results allowed scientists to advance in understanding of asymmetric fission nature, shell effects and fluctuation-dissipation processes in the formation of mass distributions of fission fragments of cold and heated nuclei. This research series found resonance at international symposiums on fission physics, and it stimulated experimental and theoretical study of the same effects in the USA, Germany, Belgium, Japan and other countries.

Under the direction of Mikhail G. Itkis a large-scale series of research was carried out devoted to study of the process of superheavy nuclei fusion and fission with Z=106-122 near the Coulomb barrier. It became a significant step for defining the most promising synthesis reactions. It also allowed scientists to justify the programme of experiments on synthesis of superheavy nuclei near the island of stability. The programme implementation provided synthesis of new superheavy elements (114, 115, 116, 117, 118) of the D.Mendeleev Periodic Table. The expected result of these investigations is State Award of RF (2010) presented to M.G.Itkis.

Scientific prestige of Professor M.G.Itkis is widely acknowledged by the world scientific community. He is Honorary Doctor of Goethe University of Frankfurt, a distinguished Professor of the University of Havana. His scientific achievements were marked by state awards of RF and other JINR Member States. Professor M.G.Itkis is a laureate of international Flerov and Humboldt prizes.

M.G.Itkis is distinguished by his high sense of responsibility, his dedication to science, determination and his hard work.

The JINR Directorate and the international staff of JINR, colleagues, friends and pupils warmly congratulate Mikhail G. Itkis on his 75th anniversary and wish him good health, success in his scientific and scientific-organizational work and fulfillment of his plans.